Last Time
The group returns to China in hopes of curing their curses but learn Khu Lon has built a Cat Café over the springs. The Amazons have some Nannichuan and Ryoga uses some. Ranma decides to stay cursed for Akane and Mu Tsu tries to do the same, but Shan Pu dumps it on him saying there was no point in both of them being cursed to turn into animals.Chapter 10: The day has come
Disclaimer The Ranmaverse and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.
AN: Here it is the final chapter for Changing Times. Hope ya'll enjoyed it and please feel free to R&R. And don't forget to check out my other stories.
Edited 02/23/08
"Akane ready for tomorrow?" Shan Pu asked with a smile as she looked up from the table filled with food to glance at Akane.
"I think so." Akane said with a smile as she looked at everyone around her. Kasumi, Nabiki, Shan Pu and Ukyo were all there to celebrate her last night as a free woman.
"Can't believe you two are finally getting married." Nabiki said with a grin as she picked up one of the cookies Kasumi had made and popped it into her mouth.
"Neither can I. It seems so long ago the day he first walked through the door. Well I guess I should say she." Akane said with a laugh as her sisters joined in.
"What Akane mean?" Shan Pu asked confused.
"The first time we met Ranma it was raining so he showed up as a she." Akane explained with a giggle.
"That must have been interesting." Ukyo said with a grin as she took a sip of her tea.
"It was, we didn't find out he was a guy until I walked in on him in the bathroom." Akane said shaking her head with a smile as she thought back on that day.
"See something you liked?" Ukyo asked with a grin causing Akane to blush to her roots.
"Well if she did you couldn't tell." Nabiki informed them as she grabbed another cookie.
"And of course hitting in over the head with the coffee table didn't help things." Kasumi explained as she remembered all that happened that day as well.
"Well he didn't have to say THAT." Akane insisted as she continued to grow a darker shade of red.
"What Ranma say?" Shan Pu asked as she took a bit of the cake that was on the plate in front of her.
"Let's see how did it go?" Nabiki wondered out loud to herself as she tapped her finger on her jaw.
"'And I'm better built to boot'." Kasumi chimed in sounding oddly like Ranma-chan.
"Yep that was it." Akane said nodding her head.
"No wonder Akane hit Ranma with table." Shan Pu said with a laugh.
"Although he does have a point sugar." Ukyo said sticking her tongue out at Akane.
"Doesn't mean he's got to rub it in." Akane fumed as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Too too true, much better he use oil." Shan Pu said nodded her head in agreement. The others just turned to look at her and stared for a few moments before they busted up and began giggling.
"So what's the best memory you have of you and Ranma?" Ukyo asked turning everyone's attention back to Akane.
"Ranma?" Ryoga asked impatiently as he shook the said pigtailed boy by the shoulder.
"Huh what?" Ranma asked dazed as he looked over at Ryoga.
"I asked what was the best memory you have of you and Akane." Ryoga repeated as he sat back down in his spot at the table.
"The best?" Ranma asked out loud more to himself then to the others as he thought back on everything that had happened. Mu tsu and Ryoga just sat their patiently waiting for his response but before long the silence was starting to annoy Ryoga again.
"Ranma!" Ryoga growled getting his attention once again.
"The very best memory would have ta be the first day I arrived. Things were really bad, I mean pop had just gotten me cursed and now the old man was tellin' me I was gonna be engaged ta some girl I had never met. And ta make thin's worse it started ta rain just before we arrived at the dojo..." Ranma started as he remember back to the day he first arrived and met Akane.
Flashback
"Well I still say this whole thin' sucks! Pickin' my fiancée for me without even askin'!! I'm goin' back to China! Suck on THAT, old man!" Ranma-chan complained as he fought with the over sized panda in the middle of the streets of down town Nermia.
"Well needless ta say pop didn't listen and after hittin' me o'er the head with somethin', he carried me the rest of the way ta the dojo. I woke up just about the time that we were entering the yard..." Ranma explained.
Flashback
"Leggo y'ol' fool! You're scarin' 'em spitless!" Ranma-chan complained as the panda carried him followed the others who were running away from them into the house. "Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
"'He' is a GIRL." Nabiki complained after squeezing one of the girl's breasts.
"Nabs couldn't stop complainin' about me bein' a girl and Kasumi was too busy takin' care of her dad ta really pay any attention ta me, but 'Kane was standin' up for me and bein' nice and all."
Flashback
"I really wish you'd stop that." Ranma-chan complained again when Nabiki once again grabbed her chest.
"Hey, join me in the practice hall? I'm Akane. You want to be friends?" Akane asked with a bright smile.
"I mean yea thin's went a bit down hill after that but I think that was the moment I first fell in love with her. If only I could have told her sooner." Ranma complained shaking his head as he thought back on all the wasted moments with her.
"Don't worry about the past, you have your future to look forward to now." Mu tsu reminded him with a smile as he took a sip of his sake.
"Mu Tsu is right." Ryoga said shaking his head to try and clear some of the dizziness the sake had already created up there. "We can't change the past so what's the point in dreading over it? She knows you love her now and you're getting married tomorrow, that's got to count for something right?" Ryoga asked as he finished off his glass and poured himself another.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Ranma said as he took another small drink of his sake.
"So?" Ukyo asked trying to get Akane's attention back.
"Oh sorry what was the question?" Akane asked a bit confused as she looked up at her.
"I asked you what you're best memory with Ranma was." Ukyo reminded her as she shook her head.
"Well the day I fell in love with him of course." Akane said with a smile as she popped a cookie into her mouth.
"And what happened on that day?" Nabiki asked interested as well.
"Well it was when we had the fight against the Golden pair. That hentai Mikado was trying to kiss me like the pervert he is..."
Flashback
"Next time ya pull that with 'Kane I'll do more than brin' ya ta your knees." Ranma warned the figure skater in front of him.
"Oh? And just what will you do!" Mikado asked unconcerned.
"I'll brin' ya straight ta your coffin! Got it?! 'Kane is my FIANCEE! Lay a lip on her and I'll kill ya!" Ranma screamed at him passionately.
"No way Ran-chan said that?" Ukyo asked staring at her in disbelief.
"Yeah I couldn't believe it either. I mean we were in an ice rink full of people and here Ranma was yelling that he was going to kill the guy just for trying to kiss me. I didn't know if I should be embarrassed, angry or happy." Akane said shaking her head laughing.
"Why Akane be angry?" Shan Pu asked a bit confused, if Ranma had done that for her she would have been happy.
"Cause he was pretty much saying I couldn't handle it and that I needed protection. But I didn't really have much time to think about it either way for right after the hentai Mikado finished talking him and his partner Azusa moved into their finishing move 'the couple cleaver'."
Flashback
By now the group was all holding hands, or feet as the case maybe, as Mikado lifted them up into the air holding onto Azusa's ankles. "Release her and I'll stop spinning!" Mikado informed them as he started spinning faster in the 'good bye whirl'.
"Ranma let go!"
"Ya dope! You'll fly into the wall!"
"Never mind that! Let go!"
"Idiot! Ya think I'd let go after hearing that?!"
"Don't let him manipulate you! I'll be fine! Just let me..."
"Ya moron! Ya think I'm gonna let a ditz like ya fly off by herself?!"
"What did you call me?!" By this time Azusa was getting dizzy herself and couldn't hold on anymore and so let go of Ranma's ankles sending them flying.
"This when Akane fall in love with Ranma? Akane weird." Shan Pu said shaking her head.
"Yeah explain how you feel in love with Ran-chan if he was just insulting you like normal." Ukyo insisted just as confused as Shan Pu was.
"I'm not finished yet." Akane said shaking her head as she laughed.
Flashback
As they were speeding toward the wall, Ranma flipped himself over so he would take the blunt of the impact. "He never let go of her hands!" The announcer yelled out in disbelief as Akane turned to look at Ranma.
"Clown! Show off! You didn't have to go this far! Ranma? Ranma!" Akane asked concerned as she tried to wake Ranma.
"Every bone in his body must be crushed!"
"Nothing human could survive that!" Mikado and Azusa said adding their two cents.
"All for my sake! Ranma you fool!" Akane cried out as she buried her head in his chest to cry.
"Hey wait a minute! Can't ya at least say 'thank you'?" Ranma yelled as he sat up.
"We of course argued for a few minutes and the baka was trying to get up to keep fighting even though he was seriously hurt. It was just so sweet that he was going through all that for me." Akane said as a bright smile passed her lips as she thought back on the day.
"No wonder Akane fall in love, that too too sweet." Shan Pu said with a smile as she wiped a single tear out of her eye before anyone could see it.
"That's our Ran-chan for you." Ukyo said with a smile as she wiped a few tears off her cheeks as well.
"He's done things like that before but that was the first time I realized just how much he meant to me, even if I couldn't admit it to him." Akane said with a laugh as she grabbed a hand full of chips and began eating them.
"Oh my we should be getting to bed." Kasumi said as she looked up at the clock and noticed the time.
"Good plan. Tomorrow's going to be a big day." Akane said with a smile as she stood up and started toward her room.
The 'I dos' had been exchanged just 30 minutes before and the whole group was sitting around the dojo eating and talking about days gone by. "Can't believe we finally managed ta pull it off." Ranma said with a grin as he pulled his wife into an embrace.
"I can't believe nothing went wrong." Akane said with a bright smile that made his heart melt.
"Ya know I was just thinkin', the more thin's seem ta change the more they stay the same." Ranma said with a smile as he looked around at the few remaining people in the dojo. They were sitting in a small circle on the floor with the remainder of the food in the middle. Ryoga, Ukyo (who was of course sitting in her wheelchair), Shan Pu, Mu tsu, Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane all turned to him confused.
"Well think 'bout it. Ryoga and Mu Tsu are no longer cursed, but Shampoo and I still are and now 'Kane is. I don't have Shampoo and Ukyo chasing after me anymore but I'm sure Kodachi still is. Our parents are gone but we still took o'er the dojo like they wanted. Shampoo and Mu Tsu are no longer Amazons but we still gotta deal with them since 'Kane is. We're no longer fightin' but still known as the wrecking crew since all the fights in town still center around us." Ranma explained laughing at the expressions on their faces.
"Don't forget I'm in a wheelchair now but still make the best okonomiyaki in Japan." Ukyo said with a smile.
"Yeah and I'm no longer cursed but still get lost." Ryoga agreed throwing in his own.
"While I am no longer making money off Ranma and Akane I still use my old tricks to make money off everyone else." Nabiki said with a grin as she looked at everyone around her and they cringed.
"And Dr. Tofu still gets goofy around me, but he did manage to propose." Kasumi said with a smile.
"See e'erythin' changed and yet it didn't." Ranma pointed out with a grin.
"I guess you do have a point there." Akane said after thinking for a moment. "Just like how I still call you a baka and you call me a tomboy but they don't mean the same as they used to." Akane said with a smile as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"So what is everyone favorite memory with the group?" Kasumi asked after a few minutes of silence.
"The obstacle race." Ryoga said after thinking for a moment.
"I kind of like the haunted tunnel of love." Ukyo said with a smile.
"Yeah cause you were trying to break me and Ranma up." Akane said with a laugh as she threw a piece of popcorn at her.
"How did you two manage to get out of there anyways?" Nabiki asked as Ukyo threw the popcorn back at Akane.
"Well we were so busy arguing that the ghosts didn't think we were a couple and just left us alone." Ranma said with a laugh as he wrapped his arm around Akane.
"Shan Pu like trip to island of silly prince." Shan Pu said bringing the conversation back to what they had been discussing.
"I happen to like when we went after Taro when he kidnapped Akane." Mu tsu said with a smile.
"What about you Akane?" Kasumi asked looking over at her with a smile.
"I think I will have to agree with Shampoo on this one." Akane said with a grin.
"And Ranma?" Kasumi asked turning everyone's attention to him.
"That's easy." Ranma said with a smirk as he looked around at everyone. "Right now." Ranma informed them as everyone rolled their eyes at him but laughed all the same.